Of Babies, Bereavement, and Breaks
by Artemis Hunt
Summary: Three times Lily and James have met Lord Voldemort and escaped. But the night Harry is born and the prophecy told, they realize how escaping with their lives might have caused their own and Harry's destruction. LJ preduring Harry's birth, a bit fluffy.


**Thank-you to all the wonderful reviewers! ****IAMaMUDBLOOD, believeinmagic14, newalgebrabuddycuzbiosdone 3ya, cMEk, foodnetworkjunkie****HermioneGrangerTwin, 100-percent-Harry-Potter-obsessed, short-ally, and kellbell****all rock!**

**The answer to my question at the end of the last chapter is…. drum roll**

**At the end of the oneshot, Lily, James, Sirius and some other people pose for a picture that Harry looks at during his 3****rd**** year. I do realize that I never explicitly mentioned that Sirius was the best man, but he was supposed to be even though Remus gave a speech.**

**A/N: This isn't very important but I thought I'd mention it. I was looking at some of my stories on fanfiction and I realized that I've been putting a space after every quotation mark and that's very annoying to read! (at least in my opinion) So from now on I'm trying not to do that, but I apologize in advance for the many times I'm sure I will forget.**

**If there is anything else like that people can mention it too me because I want to make this as easy to read as possible and I for one get annoyed because when things are transferred to the internet all the special formatting gets messed up!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this…I wish I did, but the shooting star seems to be broken right now.**

**CAUTION! DO NOT READ UNTIL HAVE READ A/N BELOW!!!!**

**PLEASE NOTE: This is the SIXTH installment in the Of Alliterations series…if you have not read Of Snow, Snowshoeing, and Snogging, Of Tests, Tricks, and Turning Points, Of Dates, Drama, and Dilemmas, Of Engagements, Employments, and Endangerments, and Of Weddings, Waging Wars, and Wrangles (preferably in that order), then DO NOT READ THIS (yet)!! Thank-you and enjoy!**

**Of Babies, Bereavement, and Breaks**

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**  
**

"James Potter if you are not down in two seconds I am leaving without you!" Lily Potter threatened for the hundredth time that morning. Sighing exasperatly, Lily turned again to the mirror in their living room and pulled at the collar on her black graduation robes. Unlike the Hogwarts pair, these had the symbol of the Ministry of Magic embossed on the back while the front held the symbol for the Auror department and the shoulder of the right sleeve displayed the level achieved in the Academy.

With pride Lily turned her head to look again at golden embroidered ring surrounding two wands, crossed to form the points of a compass with a star placed at the tip of each wand which symbolized the top class at the Academy. But Lily's true pride was in the silver thread wand below the ring that had a shower of silver stars pouring from the tip and descending to the bottom of the wand. It was the symbol to show that she had been the second highest member of her graduate level at the Academy.

_And for once I'm not the slightest bit annoyed or stressed about being second like at Hogwarts. _Lily reflected, thinking to her many study sessions that earned her the award of Allievo primo. _Because I really can't think of anyone who deserves the golden wand award more then Frank…_

Lily smiled at the mirror, remembering his shocked silence when he received the letter while everyone else was busy running around shrieking in joy and toasting to him. To an outsider it would have appeared that Frank was unimpressed or ungrateful for the award, but his silence was actually his sharp brain running wild again, trying to understand why he deserved this all the while doing an internal jig.

In Frank's mind, he wasn't an exceptionally talented wizard, but his friends and other wizards recognized his prestige despite his modesty. And Alice was the most excited of all, not for a moment being jealous of her husband because she deserved the award just as much as he did. But that was Alice's award, her personality, always seeing the wonderful things for others, never thinking of herself.

"My hand is in the Floo powder!" Lily called upstairs to her tardy husband, "You've got five sec-" But Lily couldn't finish her threat as she screamed and threw the Floo powder in her hand at the figure spontaneously emerging from their fireplace.

Swearing loudly and stumbling the figure crashed into the coffee table which was next to the fireplace and promptly fell to the ground where Lily already had them at wand point.

"Merlin's beard Lily!" A familiar voice protested, "You'd think I was a Death Eater or something!"

"Well for all I know you could have been." Snapped a very irate Lily, " Sirius you are unbelievably irresponsible…you _cannot _barge into people's house unannounced and expect a warm welcome. Especially when things are like they are right-" But again Lily's ranting threat was interrupted by a loud "STUPEFY!" and two resounding thuds.

"James!" Lily called, rushing to her husband while ignoring the now unconscious, disheveled figure by the mantle.

" Are you alright?" She asked, trying not to laugh while helping James up from his fallen position at the bottom of the stairs. It appeared that he had heard her scream while putting on pants and then preceded to stop putting on the pants, run down the hallway with them around his ankles and then stun the intruder while falling down the stairs.

"Fine." James mumbled, apparently a bit embarrassed by his valiant attempt to save her, "But…you screamed? Are you all right? Stress isn't good for the baby." Lily shushed him immediately, and glanced at Sirius to make sure he hadn't heard forgetting he was out cold. But looking back at James, she couldn't help but laugh at his confused face as he began to realize that Lily had been having a conversation with her "attacker" before James Stunned them.

"I think Sirius might be a bit angry at being knocked out…" Lily said once she was satisfied that James hadn't hurt himself in his attempts to rescue her and went to revive Sirius while James finished putting on his pants.

"What the bloody-" With a glare from Lily Sirius finished, "heck? Bloody heck…why did BOTH of you attack me!" Looking over at his partner in crime for an apology, Sirius was surprised to see James just as angry as his wife.

"Sirius, you know the security measures we've added to the flat…just because you _can _come in unexpected doesn't mean you should!" Pulling on his sleeve to straighten his robe, James finished with a glare, "If you can't respect the measures then you can't come over!"

Looking positively miserable Sirius lifted himself off the carpet.

"But…but _Prongs_…you wouldn't _leave me_ would you?" Sirius' face was crestfallen as James nodded his head.

"You're like my brother Sirius…so STOP making it sound like we're dating!"

"First you leave me for some _girl_." Sirius muttered angrily, "Now you won't let me come over unexpected." Looking over at James seductively he finished.

"What's to become of my special midnight…_visits_?" However Sirius soon regretted it as he was smacked back to the ground by a cushion sent flying by James.

"I will say it again!" James replied, unable to remain completely angry as Lily helped Sirius up yet again and cleaned off the Floo dust she had thrown, "I AM NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND! Just because you can't get a girl doesn't mean you can have me!" Before Sirius could give his huffing reply, Lily interrupted.

"As much as I enjoy your lovers spat…we're going to be late!" And as the trio arrived at the ceremony hall by Floo they were hastily ushered to their seats with glares from the overseers who were attempting to start the New Years Day event.

"Where have you been?" Dacia whispered across Remus to Lily.

"_Someone,_" Lily glared at Sirius who was attempting to hide behind James, "showed up for a visit so we had some problems leaving." Dacia rolled her eyes and Alice leaned in from next to her and said excitedly, "It's starting! I'm so nervous for Frank! He kept on running to the bathroom, claiming he was going to throw up but came out greener then before!" Watching Alice wringing her hands in her lap, Lily wondered if she was more nervous then Frank.

"If I could have your attention for a moment please!" A voice called out from the podium, "We are pleased and proud to begin this year's graduation ceremony!" Polite clapping commenced and Lily started as she realized that the man speaking was her new boss, the Head of the Auror department.

"Every year this Academy teaches witches and wizards what they need to protect this community from harm." Looking grim he continued, "And in recent times the need has become so great for these talented young people that this graduating class completed the course in our updated version, which teaches the _exact _same material in 1 ½ years rather then the usual three." Again applause broke out as the speaker paused to bow slightly to the graduates.

"Here to speak to you today is one such of those people! This year's recipient of the Golden Wand…Frank Longbottom!" This applause was greater then the others, topped off by catcalls from his many new friends at the Academy and the Marauders (minus Peter who had failed the course) chanting his name.

_I haven't talked to Peter in a while…_Lily pondered frowning. _I wonder what he's doing for a job now that he can't be an Auror. _Lily felt the twinge of guilt that she always did when thinking of Peter. He was one of the Marauders, but he was never as talented, as successful or as liked as the others. Even Lily felt uncomfortable around him sometimes. But she quickly shoved him from her mind and listened to Frank's speech.

" Thank-you." Frank began, placing his note cards in front of him and taking a shaky breath, "It is my greatest honor to be standing here before you and be a part of this graduating class." Frank paused, looking green but he quickly sought Alice's eyes, and continued on, smiling when he found her.

"I cannot profess to know a great deal about life and give a moving speak regarding it. I would simply be bluffing." Lily and James exchanged glances, interested to hear the speech that Frank had hidden from everyone except for Alice despite their offers to help him practice.

"But there is one thing I am blessed to know much about...family." Beginning to hit his stride, Frank looked out at the rest audience for the first time.

"As a child I was blessed with a loving family, as a teenager I learned from my family of friends at Hogwarts and now I am blessed to have Alice as my family and love of my life." Alice blushed mightily but her eyes were filled with tears already, clearly anticipating whatever was to come in Frank's speech.

"Family is, in my opinion, the greatest asset in life…especially in dark, difficult times."

"In times like these, it is easy to lose hope, to succumb to one's fears, doubts, and suspicion. To turn on those around you for fear they will turn on you first." Frank's gaze caught Lily's and she could tell that he had spend many hours perfecting this speech, the look in his eyes showed his deep passion for his words.

"But if we do that, if we turn on each other then we have lost all hope. And hope is the only thing we have when everything else is gone, it's the only thing people can never take until we give it too them."

"And this is where my belief in family begins. Because family has the ability to stoke that fire of hope, family has the strength to carry you when you have lost that hope and are sinking into despair, _family _has the love to ignore your flaws, your misconceptions, your disabilities and have hope _for _you even when you can't have it for yourself."

"No other entity can have that claim. Nothing else can profess to love unconditionally, to support despite anything else, to rise above any anger or pettiness and come to you in your time of need." Looking around, Lily saw that almost everyone had been reduce to silent tears as they thought about their families during this war. No one tried to hide it, not even Sirius whom Lily had never seen cry, not even when he was disowned from his family by his own mother.

"Family isn't always conventional…there is the quirky mother, the crazy uncle, the horrible sibling. But it is a _constant _the only constant that can come in any form. It can be your blood relatives, your friends, your coworkers, your school, anyone or anywhere you believe you are safe. It doesn't matter as long as it is _your_ family." Collecting his note cards in one hand Frank ended simply.

"These people you see before you have become a part my family…I would do anything for them and believe that they are among the greatest people in the world."

Ad Frank left the stage he was first greeted by stunned silence. Everyone was too engrossed in emotion to realize he had finished. But when they did, Frank received a thunder of applause and a standing ovation.

Lily was sure that everyone wanted an encore if that was somehow possible.

And with this feeling of love and happiness for everyone around them, the ceremony began.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Another toast!" Sirius called out, smiling and wobbly clinging to the arm of the sofa at Lily and James' London flat.

"What to?" Lily asked laughing. It appeared that she was the only sober one left seeing that she couldn't have liquor with a baby, "You've already started toasting to Dumbledore's socks!"

Shaking his shaggy hair, Sirius took a staggering step forward, apparently trying to make his way towards Frank and James who were sprawled in front of the fireplace. Before he fell, Lily sprung up from the oversized chair she was sharing with a passed out Dacia to catch him.

"Hanks, Lilsie." Sirius giggled a bit, "I have a new toast!" Shaking her head Lily went to sit on the other side of the coffee table with a completely sober Alice. They both had special items that did not mix well with alcohol.

Lily smiled as she remembered when the pair of them had gone to St. Mungo's to have the pregnancy test in December. Lily had practically squeezed Alice's hand off as they waited for their stomach's to turn blue for a boy, pink for a girl or no color at all if Lily was mistaken about being pregnant, but she knew that she wasn't. She hadn't been able to explain it but she somehow knew that she was going to have a son and was ecstatic to see that Alice was having a boy as well.

They had immediately begun planning play dates for their unborn children much as James and Frank had begun planning the makings of their own Quiddich team when they were told.

However outside the four of them, no one knew of the pregnancy because Lily had insisted on waiting until the end of the first trimester and Alice had agreed.

Placing her hand subtly on her belly, Lily was sure that she could feel her son moving around, although she wasn't sure if that even happened so soon, being only two months along. Alice was due mid to end July, while Lily was due mid August and she sincerely hoped that her son would not adhere to the Evans tradition of being several weeks early as both she and Petunia had been.

Noticing Lily's hand, Alice nudged her friend's shoulder and winked before the pair fell into giggles, acting drunk despite the cranberry juice in their cups.

"A toast! A toast!" Sirius called out unable to be distracted by Remus who was trying to prevent his drunken friend from doing any other stupid things.

"To Ms. Lily Evans!"

"Potter!" James called out; even in his drunken mind he wanted full credit for getting the girl of his dreams. But soon his and Frank's game of Exploding Snap ended with their eyebrows nearly singed off before they decided to switch to chess. However the pieces seemed to object to this as they soon began shouting bits of advice such as "I'm pawn you blighter! I can't go forward five and over three!" and "Come back when you're sober!"

"To Ms. Lily POTTER!" Sirius continued blatantly ignoring the interruption, "Who has managed to remain fully sober and normal in such drunken company." Conjuring a large, purple-feathered hat, Sirius swept it off his head and dropped to one knee in front of Lily and Alice.

"And the same for her lovely friend Alice." Miraculously, Sirius appeared to becoming less drunk, in fact Lily had the sneaking suspicion that he had an ulterior motive in this speech.

"So amazing is their feat…one might think that they had certain, _incentives_, for doing so."

"Sirius Black." Lily cautioned.

"Lily Potter." He replied conversationally.

"I am here and now formally accusing you and Alice of being knocked up by James and Frank respectively."

A silence fell over the room as even Dacia managed to wake up. Lily spluttered incoherently, unable to deny the rude yet technically correct accusation. Luckily James saved her by taking the decision from her hands when he announced.

"Oy, Sirius. Use proper language around the ladies! Knocked up is rather blunt…I prefer that she is bearing my child as Alice is to Frank." Again silence bore down on the living room while everyone comprehended the admittance that both Lily and Alice were pregnant.

Dacia recovered first despite her wine slowed brain and shrieked while throwing herself across the room into her pregnant friends arms while Remus congratulated Frank and James. Sirius was rather put out by losing the center of attention but shrugged and tackled James as congratulations.

Thought it was already nearing midnight, everyone felt a new vigor in them and when Peter finally arrived from who knows where, they pulled out another bottle of champagne (having already gone through all the wine) and brandy and cranberry juice for the two guests of honor to celebrate their babies (which Peter had just found out about) and the future.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next months flew by with Auror missions, baby plans, and simple day-to-day life. But for Lily, there wasn't enough to do now that she was seven months pregnant and unable to work, or clean, and cooking proved difficult if she ever dropped an ingredient or needed a dish from under the cabinet. Lily thanked Merlin for magic many times, wondering how Muggles did things without magic while they were pregnant.

Only weeks after their graduation, Voldemort stuck hard and swift against the Ministry with a high profile attack at a well attended Muggle concert. Apparently he considered it a "first test" for the new recruits and Lily shuddered as she remembered their close escape.

It had been going in the favor of the Aurors for a while. They had managed to arrive quickly and herd the Death Eaters away from the concertgoers (many of their memories later had to be Modified, but luckily they were able to play the scene off as a new local gang attack). But just as the Auror team was starting to overwhelm the Death Eaters, Stunning them to be brought into the Ministry for questioning, _he_ came.

Apparently Lord Voldemort had been so angered by the failure of his followers, he wanted to bring them back for himself to torture.

Dacia received the worst, having the Cruciatus Curse placed on her by Voldemort himself. But when Lily tried to stun him to stop the spell, she soon found herself on the receiving end of the Killing Curse, which she only avoided as James tackled her shocked frame out of the way. After that the entire rescue team left, knowing Voldemort would only stay as long as the Ministry tried to capture his followers.

Lily and James had the worst fight of their lives that night. James, wanting to protect his wife and son, was begging her to take vacation until the baby was born. But Lily wouldn't hear a word of it because she needed to go out there and fight to make the world safe for other mothers and their babies. For days they didn't speak to each other.

Lily wasn't sure that they would ever move past it until Dumbledore unexpectedly came to visit with a proposition.

He wanted Lily and James, along with Sirius, Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice, and Dacia to join something called the Order of the Phoenix, a secret group he formed to fight Lord Voldemort. Immediately they both agreed, and James consented to allowing her to be completely active in this group while taking "vacation time" from work. This situation satisfied both because much of the Order's work was stealth, not full out battles like Auror work so Lily would barely be in the field but she would still get to fight Lord Voldemort. The Order focused much of their energy on finding out the next plans of Death Eaters, not trying to stop it when it was already in motion, which they left to the Aurors.

But when Lily and Alice were four months along, a mission came up for the two of them, James and Frank. It was the first time since the concert fiasco that Lily and Alice would be out in the field and although James and Frank had faced Death Eaters since then, Voldemort had never reappeared.

Their mission was to spy on a "deserted" house that was suspected to be headquarters for Voldemort.

It had gone well enough, the four made their way deep into the house and were listening to a conversation between several known Death Eaters, Avery and the Lestranges. But moments later they discovered it was a trap and the voices were a recording just as the house set itself on fire. They were forced to Apparate out of the house, not daring to go farther because of the babies, just barely making from the burning building before the entire house blew up as the fire reached some sort of gas tank.

But standing, watching the fire was the last person any of them wanted to see and screaming in anger, Lord Voldemort had raised his wand to kill the four of them just as James and Frank pulled the women close for Side-Along Apparation.

They had all escaped unharmed except for some singed clothing. However for the next week, both Lily and Alice were bed-ridden with stomach pains caused by Apparating while pregnant. They had been told it didn't hurt the child until five months of pregnancy so Lily wasn't quite so worried. But she had never seen Alice so fraught with worry and guilt; terrified that she had killed her own child.

But both children were fine and St. Mungo's said that there would be no lasting harm if they didn't Apparate again until the birth. James and Frank, however, at this point put their feet down and insisted that both women go on hiatus. Alice had immediately agreed, fearing more harm to the baby, but Lily had fought again for another week before she walked in on James crying softly into his hands on their bed.

Lily had had no idea how frightened he was for her and the child and immediately relented, hating to cause him any undo pain. As it was she couldn't comfort him much as both of his parents slipped slowly into sickness. They were older then some parents, having had James later in life. But James wasn't ready to let go of them by any means and was sick to his stomach with worry that they would never met their grandchild.

His worry was not undue, because one morning at breakfast a large Ministry owl came.

"Darling I think I'm beginning to like this whole pregnancy thing." Lily called out from her spot on the couch with a plate of pancakes she now had time to make, "Look! I can balance the plate on my stomach!"

Waiting to hear his ringing laughter in reply, Lily became worried and put the plate aside, wobbling into their small kitchen.

"Is there something in the Prophet?" Lily asked concernedly as they always scanned it for the deaths of people they knew, mistaking the Ministry owl for their regular newspaper delivery one.

But James was sitting at the table, a forkful of pancake sitting uneaten on his plate and a black envelope, opened. His shoulders shook with silent tears that swiftly fell onto the short letter he held in his hand.

Slowly, Lily sat next to him and pulled the letter gently from his hands. His tears had smudged it, but Lily could clearly read one important line.

_We are very sorry to report the death of Mr. and Mrs. Potter at three o'clock this morning. If you would like information regarding any details, please send an owl to…_

"Oh James…" Lily murmured, moving to hold him, as James' tears became louder, his chest heaving, "I'm so sorry…this is so terrible."

Trying to breathe through his tears, James choked out, "They've never m-met their grandson, and they n-never got to…"

"Shhh." Lily stroked his hair, quieting his sorrow, "They were so happy just knowing that there would _be_ a child, that by itself made them happy." But she knew just how devastating this was, James and his parents had always been extremely close and having a grandchild had always been one of their dreams. So much that they had already set aside a large amount of money so that their grandson would always have something to live off of if times ever got tough for Lily and James or later in life for the baby.

They stayed there for several minutes, Lily holding onto James who was clinging back, unable to let go for fear of being washed away by his sorrow.

Through the thick silence James' tears subsided into a dulled, mute grief.

Quietly he muttered, "We have to tell Sirius." And Lily nodded.

The Potters had been Sirius' foster family since they were in Hogwarts, and Lily knew that his grief would almost match James' because he had never had good family relations, but the Potters had always welcomed him into their home without a single question, hesitation, or reservation.

"You go upstairs and take a shower, I'll clean up the dishes and send an owl to work saying that you and Sirius aren't going because of a death, and then I'll tell Sirius we're coming. Okay?" asked Lily, moving the hair from James' eyes which were now red and puffy. He nodded and gave her a swift kiss, thanking her for the comfort before trudging upstairs.

Once Lily heard the shower water on, she sunk down into her hands and cried for a couple of minutes herself.

She hadn't known the Potters for as long as she would have liked, but they were some of the best people she knew. Kind, loving, generous. They never asked why, but always asked how can we help? It pained Lily that these wonderful people were gone.

_But I need to be strong for James. _Lily thought miserably as she moved to write the letters to Sirius and the Auror department. _So no more tears from me._

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Changed into black mourning clothes, the couple soon Flooed to Sirius' nearby apartment, calling out his name in the spacious flat that he shared with Peter and Remus before he moved in with Dacia.

"So we're skipping work?" Sirius shouted excitedly from inside one of the adjacent rooms, "Awesome! Where are we go-" Coming into the room, Sirius caught sight of Lily and James' faces and stopped short.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice gruff having already guessed the reason for the visit from their appearance.

"My paren-ts." James said, his voice cracking, "Last night…they passed a-."

"NO!" Sirius shouted, cutting off James, "NO! DON'T SAY THAT! DON'T LIE!" But as Lily sunk into the nearby chair and James bit his lip trying to control the already forming tears.

"Padfoot, I-" But Sirius still would hear a work of it and kick a nearby end table over, destroying a lamp. But no one made a move to fix it yet, knowing that Sirius would just destroy it again.

"They CAN'T…they aren't…" Sirius looked around, losing steam and reasons for James to be lying about this.

But as James sank into the nearest chair, uncontrollably sobbing again, Sirius gave up the denial and moved next to his foster brother. James stood and the pair hugged, clinging to each other for support.

Just the sight of the pair of them, two of the strongest men Lily knew, sobbing into each other's shoulders was enough to make Lily begin to break. Death was such a horrible, permanent barrier between loved ones. It fostered sorrow, delved into the soul and tore it up starting at the center and working its way out.

"What's going on?" A soft voice said form behind Lily, making her jump up in surprise.

"Oh, Peter." Lily said startled, her hand on her racing heart. Peter had always had a way of sneaking up on people, perhaps it a rat tendency he somehow acquired from his Animagus form.

Sighing, Lily told him quietly, "We just received the letter today…James' parents died early this morning." Peter's shoulders drooped, and he shook his head in disbelief.

Reaching out to pat her on the shoulder he said, "I'm so sorry to hear that…do you know when the funeral will be?" Looking back towards James and Sirius who had both calmed down again to having a dull ache of grief instead of the fountain of tears, Lily hesitated, unsure. But having heard Wormtail, James replied hoarsely.

"It was their wish to have a very small funeral…just any immediate family, which is just me and Sirius at this point because Mum's sister died last year. They said that I could bring you all but they wanted to be cremated at the place where they had their first date." James stared into Lily's eyes, and she could already guess where the site was.

"It's this beautiful spot on a hill a couple of miles out onto the grounds at Hogwarts."

_Our spot…_Lily thought, wondering if all of her wonderful memories of that place would now be tainted by this sad event.

"They had already talked with Dumbledore…so it won't be a problem. They said they just wanted their ashes spread over that hill."

"But when?" Peter pressed, annoying Lily. It was clear that this was hard for James to discuss, did Peter have such a busy schedule that he needed to know _now_?

James sighed and replied, "They wanted the Sunday closest to their death…so in three days." Peter nodded.

They all stood in the living room for a moment, unable to move from under the heavy weight of sorrow. But Peter was looking significantly uncomfortable; Lily figured it was due to his lack of a connection to James' parents. He was the first to leave, saying that he needed to go to work but Lily had only remembered to ask him what work was just as he Apparated away from the flat.

Sitting on the now vacant couch, Sirius pulled out a piece of parchment.

Looking sullen, he lifted his head and said, "Suppose we ought to write to Remus and Dumbledore then." James nodded and so the planning began.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One week after the funeral, life in the Potter residence was just beginning to return to normal.

The funeral had been quiet, just as requested. But the sadness was unbearable.

James had already shed all of his tears, but stood in silence, stock-still a step away from the rest of the group with a clouded, far off look. He had told Lily only yesterday that he was sorting through his memories, moving past the grief in a final, lasting way as his parents would have wanted him to. Sirius however still had plenty of water and he stood next to Lily, clutching her hand while the pair of them cried silently. Alice and Frank clung to each other, alternating crying with pained expressions while they tried to prevent more tears. Remus was also there, grief aging his already scared face and he moved next to James to be the silent strength he needed while Lily was absorbed in her own sadness. Peter was the only Marauder missing, much to Lily's surprise after he had so forcefully wanted the date. He claimed that his boss wouldn't allow him to leave seeing as it wasn't his parents.

Lily couldn't imagine a person being so cruel in times like these, but had been unable to ask him who his employer was seeing as his note was sent by owl and Lily received no reply to her returning letter.

She was worried about Peter. He seemed to show up at random times, then disappear for a while. Lily was concerned that he had gotten caught up in one of the new "protection groups" that had been springing up as Voldemort became stronger.

They claimed to offer anyone who joined protection from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, in return for one, _small_ fee. But many of these groups were dangerous, asking for more and more, and then harming those members who finally did stand up to them.

It was ingenious in a twisted way because those who joined them were often the weaker, less talented witches and wizards who had reason to be scared by Voldemort and this made it easier for the leaders of these cults to overwhelm them.

_If only Peter's absence was the only thing that went wrong… _Lily recalled with horror.

After the funeral, the two couples, Lily, James, Frank, and Alice, had gone with Dumbledore to get a drink from the Three Broomsticks. Remus was forced to decline the outing because he wanted to return to Dacia who hadn't come to the funeral because she didn't want to be obtrusive, not ever having met the elder Potters and Sirius had returned to the Order to continue a lead he had been working.

As they all sat in a gloomy silence, the door banged open and a troupe of five men with large traveling robes had traipsed in.

They sat in the far corner, not ordering a drink, merely observing everything while pretending to make conversation.

Lily had noticed all this despite her grief slowed responses and was not surprised when Dumbledore moved his arm to shield his teacup from view before making it turn bright blue and whispering fiercely, "Take this to the headquarters, now!"

Without a thought of refusal, the four each placed a finger on the teacup and felt the familiar jerk of being pulled away by a Portkey. But before they disappeared completely, Lily had had time to see Voldemort, in a scream of fury, throw back his hood and begin firing spells at the disappearing couples and Dumbledore.

Sighing, Lily pulled herself from the past as the laundry machine chirped in a pleasant voice that the clothes were dry.

Opening the dryer, Lily tried to bend over to remove the garments, but much to her annoyance her found that the ever-growing bulge now prevented her from doing even this simple task.

"For Merlin's sake!" She exclaimed, pulling out her wand. With a flick of her wrist, Lily charmed all of the clothes out of the dryer and watched impatiently as they folded themselves.

This was one of the more useful household charms Lily had found in her recent studies. As the months dragged on she could do less and less without magic, to a frustrating degree. She had decided to occupy herself by studying new spells, most of which were household management spells because they were the only ones she could practice safely.

_Or relatively safely…_Lily thought, cringing as she remembered her first attempt at an ironing spell. She had learned the charm and had successfully ironed James' best dress robes. When she was finished, Lily had the robes place themselves back in the closet with a satisfied swish. Assuming she had finished the spell, Lily then when to go make dinner.

But when James returned from the Ministry, he had gone up to change for the night, and roared in surprise to find that part of his closet was on fire.

Luckily most of the clothes could be restored, but Lily was furious with herself for not noticing the required finishing spell noted at the bottom of the page. And the raging hormones inside her didn't help when she had burst into tears over how useless she felt.

Rubbing her hand over the 8 and ½ month bulge absent mindedly, Lily couldn't help but smile because whatever annoyances the pregnancy was causing, she wouldn't change it for the world.

A soft chiming sound alerted Lily to a person arriving in the flat. Letting the last shirt flop onto the basket unfolded, Lily rushed out of the small laundry room and somewhat tackled the figure dusting themselves off in front of the fireplace.

"Honey, I'm home!" James said laughing once Lily released him from her iron tight hug.

"And I'm glad for it." Lily purred, still holding onto James lightly by the cotton shirt under his cloak, "You remember that first day of our honeymoon in France."

"Who could forget?" James chuckled, pulling Lily in for another kiss.

"Well…" Lily murmured, "I think I need a repeat." James practically fell over in shock put recovered quickly and picked up Lily while walking quickly towards the stairs.

Lily just laughed and finished her thought.

"Not that!" She exclaimed as a disappointed James set her back on her feet, "I _really_ am craving one of those chocolate milkshakes we got from that sweet shop near the hotel…"

Ten minutes later, a disgruntled James returned with two of the requested milkshakes.

"You are so lucky they're attached to the Floo network." James grumbled as he sat down next to his pregnant wife and began to drink his milkshake with her.

"Mmmm…I'd forgotten how good these are!" Lily said, ignoring James' griping as he became just as excited by the treat as she was, finishing half of his in three large gulps.

"Now that you've fed Ricky…" James said slyly, but Lily interrupted loudly.

"Oh no you don't…we agreed on a name last week!"

"But Lils…" James whined, pouting his lips to the full puppy dog extent. However on this matter Lily was now going to be drawn in.

"No," Lily said with a final note in her voice, "We agreed he would be Harold for my father and James for you and your grandfather."

James sighed and grumbled for a moment but Lily cut in again.

"_And _I agreed that we could call him Harry for short! I thought you loved that name!"

"I do!" James agreed, "But Ricky Cremson is the best all time Quiddich player! Think of the encouragement that would give him to play!" But his protests were silenced by a fierce glare from Lily.

"Harold 'Harry' James Potter." James sighed in agreement. Smiling again, Lily gave him a peck.

"Thank-you." Leaning against his chest Lily asked, "Did you talk to Frank today? I want to go visit the baby as soon as possible!" Lily was practically dying from excitement at the prospect of seeing her friends' five-day-old son, named Neville. Lily would have been there the moment he was born except there were complications in the birth. Both mother and child were fine, but they needed several days of stress free rest.

"I did." James replied casually, slipping his shake until Lily positively pounced on him in her excitement.

"Well?" She demanded, "When can we see him!" James laughed.

"Frank said we could visit tomorrow if we wanted, but since you're visiting Petunia I told him the day after…" Lily became subdued again, her face darkening at the thought of her arriving unwanted at her sister's home.

_But I can't leave her unprotected! _Lily argued with herself, finding it harder and harder to convince herself that it right, barging into her home unwelcome even if it was for Petunia's own safety.

"You're doing the right thing…it's the only thing that you _can_ do seeing as they would never allow us to monitor them." James said, interrupting Lily's questioning thoughts.

Sadly she smiled at him, knowing he was right but at the same time being afraid of being rejected any further by her sister.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After using the Muggle way of travel, Lily Evans found herself on the doorstep of 4 Privet Drive for the second time in her life.

Knocking politely, Lily waited for Petunia to arrive, knowing that Vernon was at work. It was going to be hard enough to talk sense into Petunia let alone her superstitious, prejudice, _vile_, leech-like husband…

"A moment!" A happy voice called out from just behind the door, "I'm afraid this lock is stuck…there we go!" But as soon as the door was opened, Lily found herself staring at it again after Petunia slammed it in her face upon first glimpse.

Lily sighed, "Open the door Petunia." Her voice was kind, but left no room for negotiation.

"Or WHAT?" A shrill voice asked, "You wouldn't dare do…_those things_…not in a public area."

"But you're wrong." Lily warned, "No one is outside nor can they see me through the fog so I most certainly would do 'those things'."

She waited a beat, then knocked again loudly. Slowly the door creaked open.

"What?' Petunia snapped, trying to fill up the entire doorway with her small frame to prevent Lily from entering.

Just barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Lily swiftly stepped past her blustering sister and went into the living room.

"I've come to offer you protection." Lily stated simply once Petunia had given up her tutting routine and sat in the seat farthest from Lily.

"Pro-_protection_?" Petunia stuttered incredulously, "You really have some _nerve _coming here-unwelcome- and then go as far to offer me _protection?_" Her voice rose an octave as the sentence ended, but with a quick glance to the window, Petunia lowered her voice again, "You really have _no_ tact."

Lily willed herself to remain calm before answering.

"I am offering you protection that no one else will because you are a Muggle." She plowed on, ignoring Petunia's flinch and fervent glace out the window, "A dark wizard is rising and you cannot defend yourself."

"We have a perfectly good alarm system, the police are nearby, and Vernon has a small gun in the bedroom. We are perfectly safe." Lily could not help but let out a dark laugh at Petunia's refusal to admit that there were things that couldn't be achieved without magic.

"You think a _gun _will protect you from a man who can kill an entire town with one word?" She demanded, not caring anymore for the cruelty of her words. Petunia must understand and quickly, she must come to realize she needed Lily's help because she was going to get it one way or another.

Petunia did not answer. Staring stiffly past Lily's head at the photographs on the wall she muttered, "Gloomy weather we've been having…" She was clutching at straws to avoid the current subject.

"Dementors." Lily snapped, losing the little patience she had arrived with, "They are breeding so that there are more available to be at the command of Lord Voldemort, that's his name." Petunia's clasped hands strained even more, the skin stretching white across her bone hands.

"They suck all the happiness from your soul, leaving you with only your worst memories before filling you with horrible thoughts. And that's just before they Kiss you…it's the Kiss of Death but worse because you are alive but without a soul. An empty shell. Nothing." A few silent tears were being to stream down Petunia's face and Lily immediately regretted her words.

Crossing the room, she knelt at her sister's feet, trying to force Petunia to look at her.

"I don't want anything to hurt you." Lily whispered, reaching up to stroke Petunia's blank face, ignoring the flinch as her hand made contact, "Tuney…let me help you."

With a gasping sob, Petunia threw herself out of the chair and half ran to the stairs, looking back only for a moment, to show that she wanted Lily to follow.

Curious, Lily followed slowly her steps feeling like she was dragging her feet in molasses as she climbed the small number of stairs to the second floor and entered a nearby bedroom from which she heard little cooing noises.

At the door she rested, watching as Petunia pulled a tiny baby boy, he couldn't be more then two weeks old, from a white crib and held him to her, cradling him in the way only a mother could.

"Your son?" Lily whispered, her emotions flaring as tears sprung unbidden to her eyes.

Petunia nodded gravely walking towards Lily nodding her head for Lily to take him.

Cradling him against her body, Lily couldn't believe the tenderness she felt for this tiny human, she had the undeniable urge to want to take him and Petunia way from all this, hide them until they could truly be safe.

"His name is Dudley," Petunia whispered. Internally Lily cringed at the choice, although outwardly she only nodded, "I want you to protect him…do anything you have to. I don't care. _He will not be hurt._" Petunia's eyes were burning with passion, as she demanded this. Lily nodded giving the child back to her mother.

"Harry's due in a couple weeks." Lily murmured, her hand resting on the bulge on her abdomen.

A tentative smile flickered briefly across Petunia's face. For a moment she reached out to touch Lily's stomach in the first sisterly motion she'd made since they had gone to Platform 9 and ¾ and she screamed that Lily was a freak.

"But Dudley followed the Evans tradition and ignored his due date of tomorrow…" Petunia said softly, the smile still lingering.

Lily returned it, but Petunia's face snapped back into disapproval as Lily pulled out her wand and began to mutter the protective charms.

Half an hour later she was done, and after a brief and uncomfortable goodbye, Lily left for home feeling awful, but at least satisfied that she had done all she could without hampering the Dursley's lifestyle.

But as she entered the familiar threshold of their London flat, Lily was struck with a lightening flash of pain and felt wetness rushing down her legs.

Summoning all her vocal power, Lily took a deep breath and shrieked to be heard throughout the house.

"JAMES…IT'S TIME!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several painful hours later, Lily sat in her white hospital bed, pale and tired, but glowing as she held her perfect baby boy.

James was beside her, alternating between stroking her face and Harry's hair.

"He's perfect." James murmured, "You're perfect." Lily smiled, floating on a cloud.

"We're perfect together." She whispered, pulling James close for a kiss.

"Hey! The child doesn't need images like that in his head!" Frank teased from his chair next to the other occupied bed at St. Mungo's. Alice lay there, having fallen asleep while holding Neville. Gently prying the squirming boy from her arms, Frank came over to Lily's bed and leaned over, holding Neville near to Harry.

"Harry Potter…I'd like you to meet Neville Longbottom." Frank whispered, chuckling.

Neville seemed to be able to hear as he reached out to grasp the air until he found the tiny tufts of hair on Harry's head. Laughing as Harry's bottom lip began to pucker, James gently pulled Neville's stout fingers away and picked up Harry, rocking him gently as he moved towards the window.

"Meet the world Harry." James said, pointing out various buildings in London as Harry gurgled appreciatively.

James turned around, grinning from ear to ear and Lily smiled back.

"He looks just like you." Alice said, waking up in the other bed, "But he's got Lily's eyes." The pair both smiled as James and Frank each rejoined their wife.

"I guess Harry followed tradition then," Lily said with a teasing frown, which quickly changed to a smile as Harry looked up, wide-eyed and apparently repentant, "July 31st…he wasn't supposed to be here for another two weeks!"

"But I'm glad he came early." James said, handing the baby back to Lily but still holding onto his tiny fist, "All the more time we get to spend with him."

A knock at the door signaled it was time for the nurses' rounds again.

"They're early." Frank noted with surprise as he opened the door. But to everyone's shock it was not a nurse who stood at the door, but Dumbledore in his midnight blue cloak.

"I apologize for interrupting this joyous occasion." Dumbledore said, smiling wisely at both of the baby boys who were squirming to regain their mothers' attention, "But an urgent matter is at hand and we must discuss it."

Everyone nodded and Dumbledore swiftly shut the door and sat in the chair in-between the two beds. For a moment he did not speak, but sat observing the newborns.

Dumbledore sighed, and began.

"A prophecy has been made recently…one of _great_ importance." He frowned, "Unfortunately I was not the only one to hear it. A death eater heard the beginning and that is where the problem lays."

"What was the prophecy?" James asked slowly and Dumbledore's wise face became aged with worry lines as he explained.

The more Dumbledore spoke, the tighter Lily held to Harry and James to Lily.

Tears began to stream for Lily's eyes as she watched Harry tug on a loose strand of her hair, his mind unworried by Dumbledore's tale.

_What have I done?_ Lily thought with horror. _Have I born you, my son, my life...only to have you be killed? How can I have done this…you deserve so much better. Perhaps if you go live with another family, far away._

But as Harry looked up at her, smiled and made a happy gurgling noise, Lily felt her heart melt again and knew that she could never be willingly parted from this child.

Holding him even closer to her chest, Lily shut her eyes and swore.

_I will let no harm come to you…I would give my life just so you can live. You will not perish by the hand of a mad man, I will not allow it._

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_  
_

**This is literally the longest thing I've ever written! So thank-you to all of you who are reading this and have taken the time to go through this document!**

**Only one more installment remains in the Of Alliterations series sob. Thank-you so much to everyone who has read any of them!!!**

**Please drop a review! It really makes me feel good:)**


End file.
